Gone as Quickly as They Came

After the Stone Monkey and A Shui left, two black bears came looking for them, drawn by the smell of blood.

"Third brother!"

The Xiong Laoda and Xiong Lao'er bears cried out in terror, never expecting that the Xiong Laosan, who had gone out hunting, would be gone just like that.

"Big brother."

"Here's a tuft of monkey hair!"

The Xiong Lao'er had sharp eyes and spotted a tuft of monkey hair next to the Xiong Laosan.

"Monkey hair?"

"Second brother, do you mean he was killed by the monkeys?"

"Stop teasing me, okay?"

"I can't believe it," Xiong Laoda asked.

"It may seem hard for us to believe, but have you forgotten that oddball among the monkeys?"

Xiong Lao'er said to Xiong Laoda with a pained expression.

"You mean that monkey that doesn't look very strong, but has almost the same strength as us?"

"About half a year ago, I went out hunting and encountered that monkey. I thought I had enough to eat for the next few days. But the Stone Monkey that fought with him found that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't defeat him."

"Instead, he played me for a fool; it was truly humiliating."

The Xiong Laoda also recalled the fear of being dominated by the Stone Monkey.

"Big brother, I reckon he's the one who killed Third Brother. For our own safety, let's avoid that monkey from now on."

"If he confronts you, who knows who'll end up getting the better of you."

It was highly likely that Xiong Laosan was killed by the Stone Monkey. Thinking of this, Xiong Lao'er's fear of the Stone Monkey deepened.

"We'll have to be careful of these monkeys when we hunt from now on. Life is so hard!"

"Xiong Laoda said with a mournful face."

After this ordeal, A Shui was overjoyed at surviving, while Xiong Laoda and Xiong Lao'er were still somewhat frightened by the strength of the Stone Monkey. Their prey had suddenly become powerful and capable of killing them.

After traveling for several hours, A Shui led the Stone Monkey to an orchard that he had recently discovered.

Seeing the endless orchard, the Stone Monkey instantly regained his strength. He had previously needed A Shui's help to walk, but he abandoned A Shui, climbed straight up a peach tree, grabbed a peach in each hand, and began to feast on it.

"Don't forget to pick some fruit to take back to the tribe after you finish eating. Why do I always have to remind you of this?"

A Shui said to the Stone Monkey with some helplessness, because the Stone Monkey had forgotten to bring the fruit back to the tribe more than once or twice, so he always accompanied the Stone Monkey when they went out to pick fruit.

"Knew."

The Stone Monkey responded to A Shui while eating.

A Shui shook his head helplessly, climbed the tree, and began picking wild fruit.

Half an hour later, A Shui and the Stone Monkey returned with their spoils.

As time goes by, the Numinous Stone Monkey's physique will become stronger and stronger, so the Stone Monkey's strength is also getting stronger and stronger. On the next few trips he went out to find wild Stone Monkey, he also killed two other black bears in succession, eliminating a huge threat to the Monkey Clan.

From then on, the monkeys faced much less danger when they went out to find food, all thanks to the Stone Monkey.

With the protection of the Stone Monkey, the monkeys' lives became increasingly happy, and the Stone Monkey were also very joyful.

But this happy period didn't last long. After a few years of such blissful days, a major event occurred for the Stone Monkey, an event that would change his destiny.

Having weathered decades of wind and rain, A Shui was now very old, reaching the twilight years of a monkey. He knew his time was coming to an end, so he decided to tell the Stone Monkey about it and tell him not to be sad for him.

He wanted to tell the Stone Monkey many things. Tomorrow was the day he and the Stone Monkey would go out to pick fruit, and he planned to tell the Stone Monkey everything tomorrow. But before the next day even arrived, he saw his dead parents in his dream, waving at him.

A Shui walked towards them, but he never expected that this journey would end before he could say goodbye to the Stone Monkey, and he would say goodbye to this world forever. A happy smile appeared on his face as he died in his dream.

"A Shui, take me to find some wild fruit!"

Because he was already very old, he no longer had much mobility, so whenever they went to find wild fruits, the Stone Monkey would go alone. The chieftain offered to find a partner for the Stone Monkey to accompany him, but the Stone Monkey refused.

However, whenever the Stone Monkey Stone Monkey was searching for results, he would come to visit A Shui. The Stone Monkey also sensed something was wrong with A Shui's situation, because when he walked up to A Shui Stone Monkey spoke to him, A Shui could no longer recognize who it was. So he would come to see A Shui almost every day, and even if he did nothing, he would stay by A Shui's side all day.

However, when he came to find A Shui today, the Stone Monkey discovered that A Shui was lying on his bed, and no matter how the Stone Monkey called to him, he did not wake up.

Seeing this situation, the Stone Monkey knew he had no choice but to run to the clan chief's house and ask him to come and take a look. He ran all the way to the clan chief's house, carried the clan chief on his back, and then ran back to A Shui's house.

"Chieftain, please take a look at him, what's wrong?"

After putting the Stone Monkey down to the clan chief, he hurriedly urged him to go and check on A Shui's current condition.

He's dead!

The clan chief first checked his breathing, then listened to his heartbeat. Feeling nothing, he solemnly uttered these words to the Stone Monkey.

Why did he die?

The Stone Monkey asked this question in a daze.

"Apart from immortals, the lifespan of all living beings in the world has an end. From the moment they are born, their fate is determined, and how many years they will live is fixed. Their names also automatically appear in the Book of Life and Death and Death from the moment of their birth, with a number following their name. This number is how many years they will live in their lifetime, which is also their lifespan."

The team leader began to explain the Stone Monkey.

"When their lifespan ends, they will die, say goodbye to their loved ones, leave this world, and go to the Netherworld Underworld."

The clan chief paused, and then the Stone Monkey added a sentence.

"Is there any way to keep them alive?"

The Stone Monkey asked the clan chief.

"Besides immortals who can Changsheng, there is another Changsheng Technique. Once mastered, it can make one live forever, or one can erase their name from the Book of Life and Death of Book of Life and Death and Death, thus escaping its record and achieving eternal life."

The clan chief told the Stone Monkey all the methods he knew.

"It's already very difficult to become an immortal these days, so that method is out. You also don't have the ability to create Underworld, so crossing your name off the Book of Life and Death and Death is out of the question. Therefore, you can only achieve immortality by learning that kind of Changsheng Technique."

The clan chief then pointed out a clear path for the Stone Monkey.